Thursday, 20 March 2014

How to fix Outlook 2013 crashing issues

Have you received an error message: "Outlook not responding" while you tried to open or send a mail? Or have you faced MS Outlook crashing issues?

There are number of reasons of above error message or Outlook crashing:•Outlook is in use. •Outlook mailbox may be too large.•Outlook data files may have been corrupted.•Need to repair your Office programs.•User profiles may have been corrupted.•Any Program conflicting with Outlook.•Add-in may be interfering with Outlook. Outlook is in use:If Outlook is in use by another process then it will hang or Outlook may not respond. There are many features available in Outlook which uses a large amount of resources such as the Outlook AutoArchive feature etc. To get rid of Outlook crashing issues, don’t use such type of feature which makes Outlook lengthy. You can check Outlook task process in the horizontal status bar at bottom of the screen. So first check this bar & Let the finish its job before attempting other actions.Check Outlook mailbox is get oversizedAs your mailbox size gets oversized then you can face performance issues during various Outlook operations. To decrease the size of mailbox, move items to large folders.First create a folder: •Click on Folder tab & then click New Folder.•Now enter the name of the folder.•Select the location for the new folder & then click OK.Now all your items have been move to new folder. After that delete all items that you do not want to keep by using Deleted Items folder option. You can also compact your data files to reduce the size of Outlook mailbox. Use following steps: •Click on File tab >> Account Settings. •On the Data Files tab option, click the data file that you want to compact.•Click Settings>> Compact Now.Same options can be use for offline Outlook Data File (.ost) but this option does delete or compact items saved on the computer running Microsoft Exchange Server. Repair Outlook data filesOne common reason of Outlook crashing is Outlook data files corruption. You can repair your corrupt Outlook data files by using Inbox Repair tool (scanpst.exe). You can also use online pst repair tools to repair corrupt Outlook data file. Repair your Office programsWhen your Outlook is not responding then this issue can also fix by repairing your Office programs. Here are all steps: 1.First stop all running Microsoft Office programs.2.Open Control Panel>>Add or Remove Programs. 3.Then click Microsoft Office 2013 or Microsoft Office 2010, and then click Repair.If your User profile get corrupted, Create new profileOne another reason of Outlook crashing is Outlook user file corruption. Use following steps to create new user profile:1.Control Panel>>Programs>> User Accounts2.Click Mail to open Mail items.3.Click Show Profiles.4.Select desired profile and then click Remove.5.Now click Add. & type a name for the profile.6.Add user name, the primary SMTP address, password, and then click next.7.Then click to select the don’t ask me about this again checkbox, and then click Allow.You have successfully created Outlook user file. Check if Any Program conflicting with OutlookWhen we start Windows, many applications start automatically. These applications may interfere with Outlook performance. To resolve outlook issue, Start-up or "clean boot" will help to identify problems with conflicting programs. There is one another possibility that you are using Startup option in System Configuration. If you want to run startup program when you restart Windows just select a check box in System Configuration, otherwise startup program won't run.Use following steps: 1.Control Panel>>System and Security>>Administrative Tools>> System Configuration. 2.General tab>> Selective startup, and then uncheck the Load system services and the Load startup items check boxes.3.Select Load system services check box, click OK, and then click Restart.4.If Outlook still hangs then you have Identify the system service that is causing the problem. To do so use following steps:a.System Configuration>>Services tab>> Disable allb.Choose the check box for the first service that is listed. c.Restart the computerIf the problem get resolve it means first service cause the problem. To fix the problem, eliminate the first service as the cause of the problem. If problem still occurs continue with the next step: d.Now select the second service check box, and then restart the computer.e.Repeat this process until you fix the Outlook issue. If above all steps get failed to fix the issue then identify the startup item that is causing the problem:f.System Configuration>>General tab>>Select Load startup items check box.g.Startup tab>> Disable allh.Choose the check box for the first service that is listed. i.Restart the computerIf the problem gets fixed then first service causes the problem. To fix the problem, eliminate the first service. If problem still occurs continue with the next step: j.Select the second startup item check box, and then restart the computer. k.Repeat these steps until you resolve the problem.Check if any Add-in interfering with OutlookCheck if problem occurs due to add-ins. Please use following steps: 1.Use following steps depending on the windows versions: If you are using Windows 8 click Search & then Type Run in the search box, and click Run.If you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, click Start.If you are using Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.2.Then Type Outlook /safe, and then click OK.3.Now click Options, and then click Add-Ins.4.Select COM Add-ins, and then click Go.5.Clear all the check boxes in the list, and then click OK.6.Restart Outlook.These steps will help to find out which add-in is causing the problem.Outlook crashes are caused by different reasons as I explained above. Above are the most common reasons of Outlook crashing. Hope the article will help you to fix Outlook crashing issues.

About Me

Adam Gorge has over 3 years of experience as an email consultant. Right now Adam is
working as an email consultant at stellarinfo. Next to consulting he loves
to write about email applications like Outlook, OE, WLM, Thunderbird etc.